


Get Close and Get Naked

by CatKing_Catkin



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Huddling For Warmth, In Medias Res, Naked Cuddling, Romantic Fluff, Shippy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-04 05:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14585607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatKing_Catkin/pseuds/CatKing_Catkin
Summary: After an ambush, Fjord and Jester find themselves separated from the Mighty Nein. With a ferocious storm raging, they both agree that the best thing to do is to find somewhere safe and covered to ride it out.Unfortunately, by the time they get there they're already soaked. Fortunately, Fjord has some experience in how best to stay warm in a situation where fires aren't always feasible.





	Get Close and Get Naked

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PrincessAmericaChavez](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAmericaChavez/gifts).



> Stock note - I consider DND mechanics to be a fine and interesting spice to add to the fic, but if I've missed something, or if a contradictory detail has come up in later episodes, please don't tell me.

“Do you think they saw us?”

Jester squinted through the rain, straining to see into the distance. She couldn’t do anything fancy with light like Caleb could, so she’d been forced to settle for firing three sacred flame spells into the air in rapid succession and praying they were bright enough.

The seconds seemed to tick by like years, until she saw four golden lights rise up over the treetops and across the river, a clear response. She laughed with relief and looked over at Fjord. “They did! They’re just…still really far away.”

“That’s fine,” Fjord said, walking up to stand next to her, shading his eyes through the rain. “Storm’s like this never last too long. Should clear up by morning, then maybe we can meet up further down the river.”

“What do we do until then?”

“Find somewhere safe to rest, so we don’t freeze ourselves half to death.”

“S-Sounds good to me.” She was already fighting to keep her teeth from chattering. Fjord noticed, and even though they were both sopping wet, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Jester was cold enough to ache, too cold to really enjoy it, and that seemed especially unfair. Mostly all she could appreciate was the fact that he was solid and warm. Jester hugged him back as tight as she dared so as not to impede either of their movement.

“How are we going to find a cave?” she asked as they set off through the storm. They tried to keep close to the river, but it was hard to hear it’s roar over the din of the wind and rain.

“Not gonna lie, I was hoping you might have some ideas.”

“I don’t think Locate Object works on an  _eek!”  
_

Lightning cracked the sky and thunder rolled through her bones and Jester screwed up her face until the moment had passed. Then the shock faded enough for her to realize what she’d done, and she felt humiliated. “You didn’t see that!” she declared loudly, thumping her fist on his back to drive the point home. 

“Definitely didn’t.” He sounded like he meant it, or at least he didn’t sound like he was making fun of her. She took comfort in that. “Apropos of nothing, I definitely think that thunder and lightning together are  _fucking terrifying.”_

In the end, desperation drove Jester on to cast Locate Object with a bat skeleton as the focus. She got a ping about five hundred yards to their left, which unfortunately put them further from the river on their right.

“Worst comes to worst, Caleb can just cast Locate Object right back at us,” Fjord said, when she looked hesitant. 

“Or Nott can just sniff out my rings,” she added with a weak smile. It got a chuckle out of him anyway, and so she felt a little better.

In the end, they came across a small cave that did indeed have plenty of bats and a couple of bat skeletons, but nothing that was big enough to eat either of them. Jester had left the haversack in the cart before they’d been ambushed, so that didn’t leave them with much else to work with. Fjord tried in vain to hunt up some dry sticks within the cave, Jester tried to see if she could get Thaumaturgy to keep a spark from her firestarter kit going, but to no avail.

And it wasn’t exactly warm inside the cave. They were shielded just a little from the wind but the air was only a little less cold and damp than it was outside.

“Jester,” Fjord said, sounding hesitant, as they sat huddled side by side and watched the storm outside. “There’s s-somethin’ I’ve been meaning to bring up.” Now his teeth were chattering, too.

“Wh-What is that, Fjord?”

“Well, I’m not…unfamiliar with situations like this. Back at sea, when we’d get caught out in a storm, a fire wasn’t always an option. Even when it was, sometimes the best way to get warm in a hurry is, uh…well, to put it bluntly, to get close and get naked.”

Jester was very, very glad it was probably too dark for him to see her blushing as she stared up at the bats. It wasn’t  _fair_ , damn it. You were supposed to have to  _work_  at making people blush, that was part of the fun, and here Fjord was getting to her just by stating facts.

Except maybe it wasn’t quite dark enough, because Fjord hurried on to add: “That’s, uh, that’s just one idea. You’re tough enough, if you’d rather just ride out the night like this, I’d understand.”

Something in his voice got her to peek up at him, and then it got her to grin just a little, because the reason Fjord couldn’t see her blushing was because he was looking away and blushing, too. That made her feel better. That made her feel more like she was standing on her own two feet.

“I don’t mind getting  _naked_ , Fjord,” she scoffed at him, nudging him gently in the ribs with one elbow. “I’m not afraid of dicks. I just don’t want you to think that you’ve gotta get naked to save me, or anything. If you don’t want to take your shirt off, I’ll be fine.” She would definitely be just a little bit disappointed, of course, but she’d live. 

“Oh, uh, it’s not just that!” he added hastily, looking over at her and still blushing really, really adorably. “I wouldn’t mind at all! Heck, uh, I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this, but…you run kinda warm, and it’s kinda nice right now.”

She beamed, her tail swaying contentedly behind her. “It’s a tiefling thing. I bet even  _Beau_  is going to be cuddled up to Molly tonight.”

He chuckled, and she felt a little warmer from the inside out. Fjord was always so  _restrained_. She wanted to help him cut loose and be more open however she could, whether that was making him blush or making him laugh. “What an image. Probably not one we should mention to either of them, though.”

“Maybe.” She’d see what seemed funniest when they found their friends again. But for now, Jester unclasped her sodden cloak and tossed it deeper into the cave, where she heard it  _splat_  against the far wall. From there, she shrugged out of her blouse and kicked off her skirt and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fjord start to follow her lead. 

It turned out to be a pretty comfortable way to spend the night, or at least more comfortable than sitting in wet clothes. Jester of course could have rationally agreed that it was possible to get naked and sleep with someone you liked without actually sleeping with them, but she’d never had cause to do so until this moment. But she curled up in Fjord’s arms and he rested his chin on the top of her head, right between her horns. And in the end, it was like he was holding her own body heat safe inside her while she warmed the chill from his bones. 

Come next morning, they were free from sickness and a little more free from shyness as they got dressed and set off to rejoin their friends. 


End file.
